Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Here is a classic piece of magic that we call 'The Traveling Glass and Bottle'. Every act I've ever seen does this exactly the same, which is the Ken Brooke routine. And there is nothing wrong with that because it's a wonderful routine. I think my friend Denny Haney does the best version of the Ken Brooke routine. But we wanted something different, so this was our solution. This footage is from several years ago before we had created the Steampunk Illusionist Show, but the routine and music is the same, only the costumes are different today.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Seeing as they both were born in the Victorian Era, I think it's safe to include them on my Steampunk blog. Houdini was born March 24th 1874 in Budapest Hungary. Fatty Abuckle was born March 24th, 1887. I'm going to include a blog article that I wrote several years ago which will give you some biographical information on the two men.

We all know it's Houdini's birthday. But did you also know that Rosco
'Fatty' Arbuckle was born on this day in 1887? Fatty Arbuckle was a
pioneer comedian during the Silent Film era. He holds the distinction of
being the first person to be hit with a pie on film! When newcomer
Charles Chaplin was hired by Mack Sennett to replace a comedian who had
just left, Chaplin borrowed the pants of none other than Fatty Arbuckle
to help create his character 'The Tramp'.

Houdini and Fatty actually had a fair amount in common. Fatty Arbuckle
began his career in Vaudeville as a singer and dancer. Houdini of
course was the King of Vaudeville Entertainers. In the book, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle: A Biography Of The Silent Film Comedian, 1887-1933
by Stuart Oderman, he says that early in their careers both Fatty
Arbuckle and Houdini liked to sleep at train stations, likely due to the
fact they were making very little money in the early days.

Fatty and Houdini have something else in
common, Buster Keaton. Legend has it that it was Houdini who gave Keaton
the nickname Buster. Well, Keaton was a vaudeville comedian and Fatty
brought him out to California to be in one of his films. So it was due
to Fatty Arbuckle that Buster Keaton got his start in movies.

In 19212, poor Roscoe Arbuckle got caught up in a Hollywood scandal
largely played out in the press. He had been accused of all manner of
sexual deviancy, raping and murdering a woman by the name of Virginia
Rappe. From what I've read it was untrue. If anything Fatty was the one
person trying to get help for the poor woman who had taken ill. But
through some false testimony by a very shady woman, Fatty Arbuckle found
himself in the midst of hell on earth. His first two trials ended in a
hung jury. The third trial, the jury, after six minutes, gave this
statement:

"Acquittal
is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has
been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him
this exoneration, under the evidence, for there was not the slightest
proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case, and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We
wish him success and hope that the American people will take the
judgement of fourteen men and women who have sat listening for
thirty-one days to the evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely
innocent and free of all blame."

Hollywood
executives, several days following the verdict decided they would take
matters into their own hands and blacklisted Fatty Arbuckle from making
pictures. Wait? Wasn't he totally innocent? Guess that didn't matter.
However, by 1925 Fatty was back, but under an assumed name, William
Goodrich, though this time he was not starring in the movies, he was
directing them.

Eventually
in 1932, the ban was lifted and Fatty was allowed to star in movies
again. He was hired to make six two-reel movies. The day after
completing them, he died. Like Houdini, he too died young, he was only
46.

About
the woman, Virginia Rappe. She didn't die at the hotel, nor did she die
while Abuckle was present. She died four days later in the hospital.
The cause of death, peritonitis, just like Houdini.

It's
unfortunate that Fatty and Houdini both died so early. I'm sure they
both had a lot more entertainment to give the world. In fact, after
their deaths, they would be connected one more time, in a movie called Days of Thrills & Laughter.

In any event, Happy 140th Birthday to Houdini and Happy 127th Birthday to Fatty.

*One more note about Fatty. This
would make Houdini jealous as it seems that Mr. Arbuckle is still
fooling people many years after he died. He is listed in a number of
biographies as being buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, he
is also listed as being buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. The
truth however is that he was cremated and his wife scattered his ashes
over the Pacific Ocean.

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About Me

Carnegie: Artist of Mystery, or at least that is my professional title. I'm a magician, an artist, magic historian, blogger, author, magazine columnist, graphic designer, and, well I do a lot of things! But my main job is as a magical entertainer.